| OBJECTIVE: To report a possible association between naltrexone therapy and the development of rhabdomyolysis in one patient. CASE SUMMARY: A 28-year-old white man in good physical health was started on naltrexone 50 mg/d for inpatient treatment of alcohol dependence and depression. A routine serum chemistry panel obtained on day 9 of naltrexone therapy showed marked new elevations in creatine kinase and aspartate aminotransferase. The patient remained asymptomatic and did not develop renal insufficiency. The serum enzyme concentrations returned to normal within eight days of naltrexone discontinuation. DISCUSSION: rhabdomyolysis has not been previously reported to occur in patients during treatment with naltrexone. alcoholism may result in a reversible acute muscle syndrome, but our patient did not fit the appropriate clinical profile for such a syndrome. Additionally, the other prescribed medications could not be implicated as possible causative agents. CONCLUSIONS: This case report illustrates a possible association between naltrexone therapy and rhabdomyolysis. ( info) |
12/1032. rhabdomyolysis complicating unrecognized hypophosphatemia in an alcoholic patient. rhabdomyolysis occurring as a complication of hypophosphatemia has been infrequently described. A 58-year-old male with a history of daily alcohol consumption presented with two generalized tonic clonic seizures secondary to hypovolemic hyponatremia. He was volume-resuscitated, and antiepileptic medication was administered. After three days of hospitalization, the patient developed severe rhabdomyolysis despite the absence of further seizure activity. serum phosphate levels were depressed. He was treated with intravenous mannitol, alkaline diuresis, and intravenous and oral phosphate supplementation. He recovered uneventfully. hypophosphatemia can potentially lead to multisystem organ dysfunction including severe rhabdomyolysis. It is, therefore, important to maintain a low threshold for measuring serum phosphate levels in patients admitted to hospital. ( info) |
13/1032. Acute coagulopathy following infusion of prothrombin complex concentrate. An acute coagulopathy developed in a 49 year old woman with severe liver disease after she received an infusion of prothrombin complex concentrate. The concentrate used in the infusion was subsequently studied by observing the effect of the concentrate on the partial thromboplastin times of various plasmas. The evidence suggests that activated coagulation factors, including activated factor X, were present in the concentrate, and probably played a role in initiating the acute change in the patient's coagulation status. Mechanisms whereby liver disease predisposes toward the development of such a coagulopathy are discussed. It would appear that prothrombin complex concentrates should be used in patients with liver disease only with utmost caution. ( info) |
14/1032. Lactic acidosis caused by thiamine deficiency in a pregnant alcoholic patient. BACKGROUND: Metabolic acidosis from accumulation of lactic acid is a relatively common condition, whereas its causation by thiamine deficiency is not. methods: We studied a pregnant alcoholic patient who presented with hyperemesis and a high anion gap acidosis. RESULTS: Lactic acidosis and thiamine deficiency were confirmed. The patient's symptoms and acidosis resolved with thiamine administration. CONCLUSIONS: Lactic acidosis caused by thiamine deficiency must be suspected when pregnant patients at risk for thiamine deficiency present with a high anion gap acidosis. A large dose of thiamine must be administered immediately. ( info) |
15/1032. Hypokalemic myopathy due to chronic alcoholism. A patient with hypokalemic myopathy occurring in the context of chronic alcoholism was reported. A 56-year-old male patient, heavy drinker for 20 years, complained of marked weakness and acutely developing pains in his limbs. The principal clinical findings were weakness and tenderness of the proximal limbs and girdle muscle. He was unable to lift his head or any extremities from the bed. Deep tendon reflexes were diminished, but not absent. There was no sensory disturbance except for muscle tenderness. These clinical manifestations disappeared gradually by abstinence from drinking, and potassium administration therapy, and the patient recovered completely on the 26th day after onset. On the day after admission (8th day), serum potassium value was 2.2 mEq/L, and serum CPK activity was 4270 IU. The ECG pattern was consistent with a diagnosis of low potassium content in serum, and the EMG pattern was consistent with a diagnosis of myopathy. These electrophysiological findings had a tendency to recover from this pattern to normal range correspondingly with clinical improvement. The repeated muscle biopsies showed that vacuolation, hyaline degeneration and significant phagocyte infiltration were observed in the muscle on the 9th day after the onset of muscle weakness, and that these pathological findings disappeared almost completely three weeks later. The frequently repeated examinations of potassium content and CPK activity in sera showed that there was a close correlation between these biochemical abnormalities and clinical improvement. The pathogenesis of alcoholic myopathy and significance of CPK abnormality in chronic alcoholism were discussed. ( info) |
| The present paper discusses some of the difficulties in working with people with an intellectual disability and an alcohol problem, and draws on the sparse literature about alcohol problems in people with intellectual disability. Four individuals drawn from the current clinical case loads of medical practitioners in UK community intellectual disability services are described. Some suggestions for staff training, patient education and health promotion, and therapeutic approaches are made. ( info) |
17/1032. Vanished twin and fetal alcohol syndrome in the surviving twin. A case report. BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of twin pregnancy can be made early in pregnancy by ultrasonography (US). Follow-up examination occasionally demonstrates the disappearance of one of the twins. CASE: A twin disappeared on US examination; the surviving twin exhibited signs of fetal alcohol syndrome and other congenital anomalies, accompanied by a placental form of fetus papyraceus. CONCLUSION: Early US examination is useful for diagnosing multiple gestation. However, a follow-up examination is required to alert the clinician to the disappearance of one twin. Careful examination of the placenta may document fetal remnants. In this case a small, atretic nodule on the placental surface was evidence of the vanished twin. ( info) |
18/1032. Sonographic diagnosis of intramural duodenal hematomas. We present 2 cases of duodenal hematoma. Sonography demonstrated a heterogeneous mass within the duodenal wall in both patients, and neither patient had signs of bowel perforation. CT confirmed the sonographic findings. Sonography and computed tomography are useful in diagnosing duodenal hematoma, in excluding accompanying lesions, and in monitoring resolution with conservative treatment. ( info) |
19/1032. Interpretation of BUN and serum creatinine. An interactive exercise. 1. serum creatinine is the true assessment tool of renal function. 2. BUN and serum creatinine are best interpreted together, comparing the two results. 3. Normal BUN is 10 to 20 mg/100 mL and serum creatinine is 0.6 to 1.2 mg/100 mL. 4. An extrarenal problem produces a BUN to serum creatinine ratio of greater than 25:1. 5. Renal failure (acute or chronic) produces a BUN to serum creatinine ratio of 10:1. 6. Renal failure and extrarenal problems can co-exist. ( info) |
20/1032. Huntington's disease and alcohol abuse. The dopamine, glutamate and GABA systems are known to mediate the effects of alcohol on the movement disorders, though their exact roles are not clear. Thus, use of alcohol has implications for pathogenesis as well as management of the movement disorders. These implications are discussed citing a patient who had a strong family history of Huntington's disease and in whom movement disorder and behavioral problems were manifest under alcohol use and withdrawal, but not while being abstinent. ( info) |